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On Tuesday, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh called on Congress to pass immigration reform to help address the U.S. labor shortage, reports Andrew Kreighbaum of Bloomberg Law. "Republicans, Democrats on this committee, go talk to businesses in your communities and ask them privately what they want," Walsh said at a House Appropriations committee hearing on his agency’s fiscal 2023 budget request. "Every single company is going to say we need immigration reform." Walsh also noted the need for migrant workers to get access to expanded permanent pathways to citizenship, not just temporary visas. One of our policy experts, Arturo Castellanos-Canales, further explains how immigration can address labor shortages in a February policy paper. The recommendations echo many of Walsh’s recent comments: expanding the H-2A visa program, recapturing unused green cards, retaining and attracting STEM workers, tackling USCIS’s application backlog, and passing permanent legislation for Dreamers in the workforce. Related: A new bipartisan bill, The Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act, would enable asylum-seekers faster (and easier) access to work authorization while their claims are pending in immigration court. Welcome to Wednesday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Joanna Taylor, Senior Communications Manager at the Forum. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. BORDER NUMBERS — New U.S. Customs and Border Patrol data shows "agents stopped migrants entering the country unlawfully nearly 202,000 times along the southern border in April, a 4% drop from March," reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News. But as the Forum’s Danilo Zak pointed out for us, Title 42 has continued to drive high rates of repeat crossing, with recidivism for April at 28%. Therefore, the more accurate number of unique border encounters for April was just 157,555 — a 2% decrease from March. "The Title 42 policy has been counterproductive," Kennji Kizuka of Human Rights First told KFOX14’s Robert Holguin. "Even if you’re viewing it as a migration management [tool], which many members of Congress seem to be, even though it’s supposed to be a public-health measure." TITLE 42 PLANS — Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor is the latest state-level GOP leader to push back against the pending Title 42 lift slated for May 23, per Lisa Bennatan and Jon Michael Raasch of Fox News. Though the Biden administration does have a plan in place to address an anticipated increase in migrants, critics maintain that Title 42 is the only viable option. (It’s not: procedure reforms, more staffing, funding, and support are among our 42 Border Solutions That Are Not Title 42.) DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas visited the Texas-Mexico border on Tuesday to detail the government’s response to the lift, per KENS 5. His visit comes as local organizations in El Paso are coordinating with Border Patrol officials ahead of the policy lift, reports KTSM’s Karla Draksler. El Calvario Methodist Church in Las Cruces, New Mexico, is also preparing to welcome and receive migrants as needed, per Stephanie Muñiz of KOAT. And in Matamoros, Mexico, Haitians seeking asylum are "lining up by thousands," putting their "names on a long waiting list at Dulce Refugio Migrant Shelter," John Salazar reports for Spectrum News1. GREAT REPLACEMENT THEORY — For The Washington Post, Philip Bump calls on some GOP members to own up to their amplification of racist Great Replacement Theory rhetoric, which they’re using to "amplify fears of immigration, anger at the left and a sense that those on the right are the real owners of American power and culture." In another WaPo piece, Bump speaks to immigration attorney David Leopold, who pointed out that "[t]he argument that immigration represents an ‘invasion’ is as preposterous as it is evil ... Preposterous because the path to citizenship in the U.S. takes years, even under the best of circumstances. And that’s not counting the years — in some cases decades — many immigrants, particularly immigrants of color, must wait for their green cards due to green card quotas." The Forum has several resources on combating Great Replacement Theory, and The Opportunity Agenda has six messaging tips to respond to white supremacist terrorism. BACKLOGS — No one should have to wait a lifetime for a green card, but an estimated 200,000 documented Dreamers who age out of the legal immigration system feel like they are, reports Rachael Myrow for KQED. After Indian-born twin sisters Eti and Eva Sinha turned 21, they no longer qualified as dependents on their family’s green card application. "It’s just the system that’s just so messed up," said Eva. "It’s extremely difficult to process that and keep having more and more obstacles in your way just to continue a life — in the only place I call home." Still, a growing green card backlog has put them in a never-ending line. Passing the American Children’s Act — one of the bills with broad bipartisan support mentioned in a new sign-on letter led by the Forum and the Niskanen Center — could help. MAYORAL WELCOME — This week, the newly-minted Mayors Migration Council will be presenting a report to the United Nations that "highlights 70 city-based initiatives for immigrants and refugees," Jennifer A. Kingson reports for Axios. "Mayors are doing this not only because it’s the fair thing to do, but also the smart thing to do," said Vittoria Zanuso, executive director of the council. "They know that they need to welcome and protect migrants, regardless." Today’s local stories:
Thanks for reading, Joanna |
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